Page 242 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

Once I find it, I yank it hard, letting my darkness guide me to what I need to do.

“Malik, stop.”

He immediately stops, turning to look at me as if waiting for his next command.

“Damn.” Jax whistles, looking from Malik’s demon to me.

The guys come closer, but a part of me worries they might fear me after seeing this side of me.

Just before they reach me, I feel another spark and the shadow beast appears, glancing from me to the guys.

The guys stop their advance, their focus now on the large black shadow beast beside me. People from all over the club whisper around us from a distance, most with fear in their eyes.

The guys notice the growing crowd and pause, debating which to protect me from first, the crowd or the shadow beast.

I give them a wary smile, letting them know I’m fine. “I guess I forgot to tell you about my shadow beast.”

CHAPTER 23

KIARRA

We head out of the club. Everyone gives us a wide berth with the shadow beast trailing alongside me. With just a thought, I tell it to leave.

It disappears before we make it outside. I glance back and watch as Malik trails stiffly behind us.

“Where the hell did that puff of smoke go?” Jax glances up and down the street.

“Who cares? What I want to know is how you can control the demon like that?” Axel narrows his eyes on Malik in his demon form.

I swallow hard, my stomach twisting, making me feel nauseous. “I didn’t mean to keep it from any of you. It hasn’t been that long since… I was just trying to process it myself.”

“Let’s get back to the penthouse, then we can talk more about it,” Luka tells us, coming closer to me.

But Axel doesn’t let up. “But how?”

I throw my hand up. I still don’t understand it myself, so how do I even begin to explain it to him? “I don’t know… it’s like there’s a connection—”

Axel fumes. “A fucking, what?! He better not be anywayconnectedto you—”

“Not like that,” I tell the possessive ass.

Axel moves closer, stepping in front of me. “In case you didn’t know, this isn’t a fucking pick-and-mix. You don’t get to add more to your harem depending on your tastes. We’re fuckingit.”

If I could roll my eyes any harder, I’d looked possessed. “I have five possessive alphas, one of which is a complete alphahole,andyou’re all crazy as hell and a fucking handful. Why the hell would I want any more?”

The violence in Axel’s eyes dims and the muscles in his shoulders ease with my words. “Good thing you recognize how fucking crazy we are. Because I’ll use that crazy to fucking destroy anyone who tries to become in any wayconnectedto you.”

“And asIsaid, I’m not interested in anyone else. But just soyouknow, the same goes for you.”

My threat makes him lose the rest of the tension in his body. I give him a baffled look before shaking my head to myself.

Some people like flowers and a declaration of their love… Axel, however, seems to prefer violence and threats.

“Psycho,” I tell him with a smirk, not denying that I might love the fucker a bit more because of it.

A knowing smirk grows on his lips. He’s about to reply when Kai comes over to us.

“Can you get him to shift back?” Kai tilts his head towards Malik’s demon, who stands there silently, looking in my direction.

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